Thai Food Central

Thai Food - Central Region Specialities

Whenever you think of Thai Food,the Central Region Specialities of Kang Kheaw Wan Gai (Green Curry Chicken) and Pad Thai always readily spring to mind,these dishes are well known throughout both Thailand and the world. There are also many other dishes that originated from the Central Region that may not be so well known. This is not an exhaustive list, and I will keep adding to them as I discover more over the following months.

Kang Kheaw Wan Gai (Green Curry Chicken)

This is a green curry made with minced chicken and small green aubergine,its a very popular dish throughout all of Thailand.

Ingredients(serves two)

200 grms Minced Chicken

50 grms Green Curry Paste

400 mls Coconut Milk

2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce

1 Teaspoon of Salt

2 Teaspoons of White Sugar

50 grms Green Aubergine - small

5 grms Fresh Basil

4 Red Thai Chillies - sliced lengthways into quarters

2 Kaffir (Lime) Leaves

Method

* Roll the chicken mince into round shaped balls.

* Place a medium sized frying pan onto the heat, add the coconut milk and cook for 1 minute.

* Add the green curry paste to the pan and stir it until mixed thoroughly, bring to the boil.

* When the curry is boiling, add the chicken mince using a teaspoon.

* Cook for 10 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

* Add the fish sauce, salt, sugar, red chillies, aubergines, citrus leaves, basil and stir for a few seconds over the heat to warm them through. * Serve with hot steamed Jasmine rice.

Tom Yam Goong(Hot & Sour Shrimp Soup)

A perfect pick-me up if suffering from either a cold, or the night before !!.Each region has its own particular variation of the recipe.

This particular recipe is from Bangkok and the central plains.

Ingredients(serves two)

8 oz medium sized Prawns - shelled and deveined

2 medium Shallots - sliced thinly

3 cups of Water

1/2 cup Straw Mushrooms - sliced

2 tablespoons Garlic - minced (approx 2-3 cloves)

1/4 cup Thai Green Chillies - approx 5

5 medium Kaffir Lime leaves - Thin slices

1/4 cup of lime juice

1/4 cup of Fish sauce (Nam Pla)

1 tablespoon chopped Cilantro leaves

1/2 ounce fresh Galangal - or root Ginger

1 teaspoon Chillie Paste

2 ounces Lemon Grass - Lower stalks only

Method

* Rinse the prawn shells and place them in a large saucepan with the water. Heat to boiling, strain the broth and discard the shells.

* Add the garlic, lime leaves, galangal, fish sauce, lemon grass and shallots to the stock, then the mushrooms and chillies.

* Cook gently for 2 minutes. Add the prawns to the soup, and reheat to boiling. When the prawns are cooked, place the lime juice and chillie paste in a serving bowl.

* Pour the soup into the bowl, stir, garnish with the cilantro leaves and serve.

Tip: by placing the lemongrass, lime leaves, and galangal in a mesh bag during cooking they are then easy to remove from the soup before serving to avoid the little "woody bits" that sometimes get in the soup.

Pad Thai(Thai fried Noodles)

Probably along with Tom Yam Goong the most popular Thai dishes both within Thailand & around the world !!.

Ingredients(serves two)

10 oz dried flat Thai rice noodles - similar to Italian linguini, but made of rice

8-12 raw tiger prawns - with shells removed

3 shallots - sliced

2 fresh green or red chillies - minced

2 fresh eggs

1 cup fresh beansprouts

¼ cup ground or chopped peanuts (unsalted)

3 spring onions - finely sliced

1 cup fresh coriander - roughly chopped

3 Tablespoons peanut,coconut, or vegetable oil for frying

Sauce:

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1 Tablespoons lime juice

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 Tablespoon tamarind paste mixed with 3 Tablespoons of water

2 teaspoons chillie sauce

Method

* Soak the rice noodles in a saucepan of cold water for 1 hour. Drain when ready to use.

* The noodles should still be firm and very chewy. * Mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl until sugar dissolves then set aside.

* Remove from heat and add bean sprouts, tossing ingredients as you mix in. * To assemble rolls, place a spring roll wrapper on a clean working surface. Place one heaped tablespoon of the filling on the wrapper.

* Spread the filling lengthwise along the spring roll wrapper nearer the end closest to you. Also, try not to include too much of the liquid left in the bottom of your wok/pan (a slotted spoon works well for this - drier filling is better. * Sprinkle some of the fresh coriander and basil over the filling.

* Fold the left and right sides of wrapper over filling, then lift up the wide end nearest you and tuck over the top. Roll to the other end. Secure the roll by dipping your fingers in some water and wetting the end, "pasting" it shut.

* To fry spring rolls, place about 1"(2.5cm) of oil in a wok or deep-sided frying pan over medium-high heat.

* When the bubbles rise, or when the oil begins to form snake-like lines across the bottom of the pan, the oil may be hot enough. To test it, dip one corner of a spring roll into the oil. If it begins to sizzle and cook, the oil is ready. If not, wait another 30 seconds to one minute and try again.

* Using tongs, place spring rolls in oil, allowing them to fry about 1 minute on each side.

* When spring rolls are cooked they turn light to medium golden-brown. Place on paper towels to drain. * Serve spring rolls while still hot with Thai Sweet Chillie Sauce, available from most Supermarkets.